Coyote women triumph 82-76 over Omaha

The Coyote women downed the Omaha Mavericks in a close 82-76 game Saturday in the DakotaDome.

The Mavericks and the Coyotes were tied 19-19 at the end of the first quarter, but the Coyotes pulled away in the second to lead the game 42-31 at the half.

At one point during the third, the Coyotes led by 15, but the Mavericks were able to shrink that lead to 6. USD was able to hold Omaha at an arms length though the fourth to finish out the game with a 82-76 win. The Coyotes improve 11-5 on the season and will face off against 5-10 Oral Roberts on Wednesday in Vermillion.

Senior point guard Nicole Seekamp led the team in scoring with 26 points followed by senior point guard Kelley Stewart with 12 points. Seekamp said the Coyotes were expecting a hard fight from Omaha and thought the team did a good job keeping the lead throughout the game.

“I think we did a good job of sticking together and not letting them take that lead,” Seekamp said.

USD head coach Amy Williams said the Coyotes knew the game would be a close one after Omaha lost a close 58-68 game to South Dakota State University on Thursday.

“They’re just a gritty, hard-nosed, play hard team,” she said.

While Williams praised the effort the women put into defending the Dome, she said there’s still things the team needs to improve on.

“We’re nowhere near where we need to be as a team defensively,” she said.